The UN cultural agency has documented a significant expansion in educational restrictions for females in Afghanistan, with the number of girls denied secondary schooling increasing by 200,000 in a single year.
Afghanistan remains the sole country globally to systematically prevent girls and women from attending secondary schools and universities, according to a statement released by UNESCO on Tuesday. The organization reports that approximately 2.4 million girls currently lack access to secondary education, representing a 200,000-student increase from the previous year's assessment. Should current trends continue, the agency warns that this figure could reach nearly four million by 2030.
The restrictions stem from Taliban policies implemented following the group's return to power in 2021. Girls were prohibited from attending secondary schools beginning in March 2022, while women were barred from universities later that same year in December. Beyond these enrollment bans, the Taliban administration has also forbidden women from teaching male students—a policy decision that UNESCO identifies as having removed qualified educators from the system and forced schools to rely on untrained male instructors.
UNESCO projects that this teacher ban could result in a shortage exceeding 11,000 qualified female educators by 2030. The education restrictions compound existing systemic challenges within Afghanistan's schooling infrastructure. The UN notes that many facilities suffer from overcrowding and inadequate resources, with nearly half of all schools lacking access to clean water, sanitation facilities, or heating. Additionally, natural disasters have forced approximately one thousand schools to close over the past five years, while more than two million children remain out of school at the primary level.
The Taliban government has resisted international pressure to reverse these policies, describing the matter as an internal issue. The restrictions have prompted UN accusations of "gender apartheid," with calls for change coming not only from Western nations but also from several Muslim-majority governments.
